Lainey Wilson, Shaboozey & More Honored at Billboard’s Country Power Players 2024 Event

Michael Calcagno
·1 min read
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Billboard honored the country music industry’s most impactful, influential artists and executives during the 2024 Billboard Country Power Players Awards, held at Gilley’s in Dallas, Texas, on Tuesday (May 14), just ahead of the ACM Awards slated for May 16.

Lainey Wilson, the cover star of Billboard’s Country Power Players issue, received the Record Breaker honoree. Nate Smith, known for hits including “Wildfire,” was celebrated as Rookie of the Year, while duo The War and Treaty was feted with the Groundbreaker award. Linda Martell, who charted three singles on Billboard‘s Hot Country charts and was the first Black woman artist to perform on the Grand Ole Opry in 1969, was honored with the Legend Award.

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Billboard Executive Editor, West Coast and Nashville Melinda Newman presented Big Loud partner/CEO Seth England with the Executive of the Year accolade. Others honored during the evening were Shaboozey, who received a plaque for hitting No. 1 on the Billboard Hot Country Songs chart with “A Bar Song (Tipsy),” and WME’s Jay Williams, the recipient of the Billboard Country Power Players Choice Award, which was voted on by members of Billboard Pro.

Presenters during the evening included Kelsea Ballerini and Lone River Beverage Company founder Katie Beal Brown (both honoring Wilson), Breland (honoring The War and Treaty) and songwriter Ashley Gorley (honoring Smith).

Wilson closed out the event with a powerful performance of her songs “Wildflowers and Wild Horses” and “Country’s Cool Again.” Sponsors for the evening included Lone River Beverage Company, BMG and Big Loud.

Here, we rounded up photos from the 2024 Billboard Country Power Players Awards.

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